Senate presidency: ‘Let Lawan be’

A group, the Citizens Consultative Assembly (CICON) has described as unnecessary, the opposition from some Nigerians to the endorsement of Dr.Ahmed Lawan by his party, All Progressives Congress (APC), as the next Senate President.

The group said in a statement by its executive director, Clarion Augustine,that the APC has done nothing wrong in endorsing Lawan.

“The practice across the world is to have the political party with the controlling majority to produce the Senate President or the Speaker of the Congress,” CICON said.

It added: “Election is done openly on the floor of the hallowed chambers in the most transparent manner.

“We oppose the idea of secret ballot for the simple reason that legislators anywhere in the world represent specific constituencies, and, therefore, can’t on their own, take decisions as to who leads the National Assembly.

“In climes where representative democracy has taken firm roots, a lawmaker’s relevance is measured by the decision they make on the floor of the hallowed chamber.

“Even at that , the lawmaker is duty bound to consult his constituents. Nigeria CAN’T therefore, be any different. We insist strongly that the impending election of the leadership of the Senate should not deviate from the global legislative practice of openly electing their leaders.

“It is against this background that we throw our support to the APC as the party with the most Senators and Representatives to produce the leaders of both chambers.”